The vibrant, festive colours of Diwali will light up four Auckland landmarks next month, in celebration of the 18th Auckland Diwali Festival. This year, for the first time ever, the Sky Tower, Auckland Museum, Auckland Harbour Bridge and Viaduct Harbour will shine bright to showcase Indian culture in Auckland.
The free, family-friendly festival takes place in Aotea Square and Queen St on Saturday, 12 and Sunday, 13 October, from midday until 9pm each day, culminating in an incredible fireworks display on Sunday night.

The light displays at all four landmarks will reflect the newly-launched 2019 Diwali Festival colours of fuchsia, yellow and orange; also taking inspiration from centuries-old traditional Indian art form of rangoli, where designs are drawn onto the ground, traditionally using coloured powders and decorated with sand, rice, candles or flower petals.

Before and during the festival, Vector Lights brings a light show inspired by traditional art form of rangoli to Auckland Harbour Bridge from Wednesday, 09 October to Sunday, 13 October. The lights will switch on from 7pm until midnight each evening.

In celebration of Diwali, the Sky Tower will also be lit from Wednesday 9 October to Sunday 13 October, where the base will be a bright yellow and the top a vibrant fuchsia, and the Auckland Museum will close the festival with Diwali-themed lights on the building from 7pm onwards on Sunday 13 October.

“This new region-wide light collaboration reflects the essence of Auckland Diwali Festival, also known as the festival of light, showcasing one of Auckland’s annual urban cultural experiences to audiences,” says ATEED Event Producer Leilana Meredith.

“It’s exciting to continue to grow the festival programme each year, and we encourage everyone to capture their experiences of the Diwali light shows on their social media platforms, so our friends and families around the world can see how we celebrate Diwali in Auckland.”

The colourful festivities commence on Saturday, 12 October with energetic dance performances, from Bollywood to Gujarati, Punjabi to Bharat Natyam, Rajasthani to Hindustani and more at New Zealand’s largest vegetarian Indian cultural festival.

Across both days audiences can expect to enjoy a wide range of more than 100 different Indian dance and music performances, from contemporary, traditional, classical or folk, featured on the Aotea and Queen Street and Street Zone stages, or as part of the pop-up street performances.

In addition to the multitude of performances on offer throughout the weekend, Auckland Diwali Festival will have more than 60 street stalls, offering a myriad of fresh flavours, exotic spices and aromas, handmade crafts and jewellery, from all corners of India.

Auckland War Memorial Museum will have a special community space for families in Aotea Square where audiences can take part in an interactive live Rangoli demonstration by artist Sarah Dutt. In this space visitors can design and create their very own Rangoli or brightly colour in a Rangoli interactive image.

Be sure to add Auckland Diwali Festival to your calendar this October for a weekend of delicious culinary delights, delectable drinks and some of Auckland’s best Indian cultural performances.
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